Two weeks ago, nine Department of Natural Resources agents and four sheriff's deputies appeared at the Society of St. Francis with search warrants.
"It was like a SWAT team," shelter employee Ray Schulze told WISN.
They were searching for a fawn named Giggles, abandoned by her mother. The department had received two anonymous calls about a deer at the facility, and the warden acquired the warrants using aerial photos of the shelter.
Wisconsin law forbids keeping wildlife, but Giggles was scheduled to move to a facility in Illinois the very next day, Shulze told WISN. Schulze said he thought the agents would take her there, but they came out "carrying the baby deer over their shoulder. She was in a body bag."
The DNR was forced to kill Giggles because of her potential for spreading disease to humans, DNR supervisor Jennifer Niemeyer told WISN. She also said the situation was "very difficult" and department was "empathetic."
Shelter president Cindy Schulze plans to sue the DNR and questions the amount of resources (aka taxpayer money) dedicated to handling the situation.
"They went way over the top for a little tiny baby deer," she told WISN.